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No, He’s Not Hitler—Yet. Trumpism is not Fascism—Yet. And while 63 MILLION AMERICANS voted for this guy, that is only 27 Percent of the voting-eligible population. There is plenty of resistance out there to make sure he doesn’t become Hitler and we don’t succumb to neo-fascism. Let’s get to work.

Uber says it is cooperating with an investigation into a fatal accident involving one of its self-driving vehicles over the weekend. A woman in Tempe, Arizona, was struck and killed as she was crossing a street outside of a crosswalk, according to police.

Black boys raised in America, even in the wealthiest families, still earn less as adults than white boys with similar backgrounds. That's according to a new study from the Equality of Opportunity Project, which looked at U.S. Census data to study the lives of 20 million children.

In Russia, a small number of women have spoken out publicly against powerful men who they say have sexually harassed them. Journalist Daria Zhuk is one of them. She says a powerful politician sexually harassed her in 2014 and that Russian women can learn from the #MeToo movement in America.

The world-famous Bolshoi Theatre is a Russian icon. But a new staging of the ballet Anna Karenina takes the beloved Russian epic — and the theater — into the 21st century. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Bolshoi principal dancer Olga Smirnova.

Do states have a moral right to exclude people from their territory? It might seem obvious that states do have such a right, but Sarah Fine questions this in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. This episode of Philosophy Bites was sponsored by the Examining Ethics podcast from the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University. You can su […]

How do I know I'm not dreaming? This sort of question has puzzled philosophers for thousands of years. Eric Schwitzgebel discusses scepticism and its history with Nigel Warburton in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. This episode of Philosophy Bites was sponsored by the Examining Ethics podcast from the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics at D […]

What is a robustly demanding good, and what has that got to do with friendship and love? Find out in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast in which Nigel Warburton interviews Princeton Professor Philip Pettit about this topic.

Philosophers talk about 'knowing how' and 'knowing what'. But what is involved in knowing a person? Katalin Farkas discusses this question with David Edmonds in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. This episode was sponsored by the Examining Ethics podcast from the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University.

Are human beings fundamentally different from the rest of the animal world? Can what we essentially are be captured in a biological or evolutionary description? Roger Scruton discusses the nature of human nature with Nigel Warburton in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.

The Hard Problem of consciousness is the difficulty of reconciling experience with materialism. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast, in conversation with Nigel Warburton, Anil Seth, a neuroscientist, explains his alternative approach to consciousness,which he labels the 'Real Problem. Anil is a Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellow.

Why does apparently trivial ritual play such an important part in some ancient Chinese philosophy? Michael Puett, co-author of The Path, explains in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. This episode of Philosophy Bites was sponsored by the Examining Ethics podcast from the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University. You can subscribe to […]

What is Art? That's not an easy question to answer. Some philosophers even think it can't be answered. Aaron Meskin discusses this question on this episode of Aesthetics Bites. Aesthetics Bites is a podcast series of interviews with top thinkers in the philosophy of art. It is a collaboration between the London Aesthetics Forum and Philosophy Bites […]

The process of dying can be horrible for many, but is there anything bad about death itself? The obvious answer is that deprives us of something that we might otherwise have experienced. But that leads to further philosophical issues...Shelly Kagan discusses some of these with Nigel Warburton in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.

We certainly disagree about aesthetic judgments in a range of cases. But is anyone right? Is there no disputing about taste? Are all tastes equal? Elisabeth Schellekens Damman discusses disagreement about taste in this episode of Aesthetics Bites. Aesthetics Bites is a podcast series of interviews with top thinkers in the philosophy of art. It is a collabo […]

Cobalt used to be a byproduct of copper mining, used in everyday, boring stuff like tires and magnets. Now it's one of the most important and sought after metals on the periodic table. This has implications for big tech firms like Apple.

Gaffe-prone, yes, but his remarks in Danville, Virginia, yesterday were not a gaffe. It was honest metaphorical language describing what Democrats believe the budget choices Republicans have embraced would do to a large swath of Americans:

They’ve said it. Every Republican’s voted for it. Look at what they value and look at their budget and what they’re proposing. Romney wants to let the—he said in the first 100 days, he’s going to let the big banks once again write their own rules—unchain Wall Street.

They’re going to put y’all back in chains!

Romneyland was outraged, I mean, outraged! Mittens, who now holds the American record for telling the most lies in a presidential campaign before the conventions, said of the remarks,

his surrogates have made wild and reckless accusations that disgrace the office of the Presidency. Another outrageous charge came a few hours ago in Virginia. And the White House sinks a little bit lower.

I for one believe that using appropriate metaphors to describe what a bind many Americans would be in should Republicans take back the White’s House is long overdue. And for Republicans to say such talk disgraces the office of the Presidency is itself a disgrace, especially when one considers what Republicans have said about the President, strongly suggesting he is un- or anti-American.

From the beginning Mr. Obama has endured many nasty insults, whether it be Sarah Palin’s accusing him of “palling around with terrorists,” or Romney supporter Donald Trump suggesting he is not an American citizen—without a peep from Mittens—or whether it is Romney surrogate John Sununu saying the President’s roots are in the “political-slash-felon environment” of Chicago and that he wishes “this president would learn how to be an American.”

Indeed, Romney himself said Mr. Obama’s course for the country “is extraordinarily foreign.”

A simple metaphor to summarize what Democrats believe will be the results of Republican philosophy is not out of order. And the phony outrage expressed by Romney is laughable. Remember these remarks he made after he essentially became the Republican nominee:

With Obamacare fully installed, government will come to control half the economy, and we will have effectively ceased to be a free enterprise society.

Huh? Give me a break. What could be more outrageous than that? You’re ourtaged that someone uses a metaphor you don’t like and you accuse the President of killing free enterprise? And Romney wasn’t done:

This President is putting us on a path where our lives will be ruled by bureaucrats and boards, commissions and czars.

3 Comments

ansonburlingame

OK, the accusations coming from the “right” are extreme and outrageous you say. You seem to ignore or even endorse the counters and other accusations from the left. In fact this blog in particular feeds on such accusations coming from the left.

If only the GOP could not prevent the President and Dems from having a full and unchallenged majority in our federal government all would be………, right? 2010 anyone as far as elections go?

OK, Mr. President, all Dems, etc. lay it out for us. Put down on paper and subject that paper to a full and open critique from all Americans of every sort. Put down not only the “fairness” of what you propose, (who exactly can measure fairness for all) but as well exactly how much it will cost. As well tell us with some real specificity where all that money will come from such that your plans are in fact sustainable over the long haul.

I would suggest that you nor the President himself have come anywhere close to such a full and open proposal. But at least the President had the guts to begin that process in his budget proposals over the last three years. No those budget proposals were not the “whole story” but they sure were a hint of the proposed direction.

And look what happened to each and every one of those proposals coming from YOUR candidate. 96-0 was the last vote I saw in the Dem controlled Senate.

Now why was that I wonder?

I suggest you might try this as a campaign tactic. Let the President, as part of his campaign show us the FY 2014 budget proposal he would send to Congress if he were reelected. 2010, again, anyone???

Remember his FY 2013 budget was the one receiving the 96-0 Senate vote, was it not? And for sure we won’t have a FY 2013 budget coming out of anywhere, other than the House. Nope just again some more continuing resolutions, already passed to give us money for the next six months from Congress!!!!

Now is four years of that “stuff” GOVERNING or instead pure politics?

Check out the Globe cartoon on the Op-Ed page today. “Prosperity through austerity” was the suggested GOP slogan which of course was laughable, as cartoons are suppose to be.

Try “Survival through austerity” as an alternative and by survival, I mean the “American way of life” which includes a huge dose of freedom and liberty for ALL, last time I checked our founding documents.

Mitt is replacing the RRBS90210 model for the retro George Wallace 68, a robot popular with Tea Party yahoos (also known as constitutionally illiterate bigots). Since attempts to etch himself as a successful job creator has been bashed against the harsh realities of Bain Capital’s vulture capitalist modus operandi, GW68 has decided to go where John McCain would not, and remind the dim that Obama is a foreign, perhaps even Kenyan born, black guy.